More than a hundred teachers and students each paid over a thousand yuan, braved the wind and rain to rehearse for a TV Spring Festival Gala performance, only to find out it was just self-entertainment. According to requests, each person had to pay various fees amounting to over a thousand yuan, copy their ID cards and household registration books to arrange actor certificates. For several days, they endured the cold wind and rain to rehearse intensively. Such an arrangement made more than a hundred students and teachers from Guangzhou, Qingyuan, and other places full of joy, believing that their grand solo performance on the Hulusi would be broadcast live on TV during the 2012 Spring Festival Gala. They gleefully informed all their relatives, friends, and colleagues to support them. On New Year's Eve, after watching a certain satellite channel’s 2012 Spring Festival Gala from beginning to end, they did not see even a single shot of their performance, leaving the more than a hundred teachers and students stunned. The deeply shocked children were either extremely angry or so upset that they burst into tears. In the past two days, some parents and teachers emotionally recounted this unusually "unforgettable" Spring Festival to our newspaper.
Xiaoming (a pseudonym) studies at a primary school in Tianhe District. In December last year, the school principal informed the parents that Li Xinyu, who gives free Hulusi lessons at the school, had obtained the program organization rights for the Hulusi performance at the 2012 Spring Festival Gala of a certain satellite channel. Interested students could register for free to participate in the preliminary selection. According to multiple parents, Li Xinyu provides free Hulusi education in many primary and secondary schools in Guangzhou and has dealings with many schools. However, if students want to learn from him, they must purchase instruments from him.
Hundreds of people across the province participated in the preliminary selection, and over a hundred passed.
On the day of the preliminary selection, the results were announced in the afternoon: Xiaoming made it, which made his entire family "overjoyed." However, what happened in the afternoon made Xiaoming's mother feel uneasy. "I saw over a hundred people pass the preliminary selection. Everyone stood on the stage and performed a solo piece called 'Wedding Vow' as part of the preliminary selection report performance. At that time, the situation felt very chaotic, with some kids barely able to play. As for the performance pieces for the Spring Festival Gala, they said they would decide during the joint rehearsal."
Xiaoming's mother stated that subsequently, Li Xinyu informed those who passed the preliminary selection to pay: a performance fee of 580 yuan; costume fees ranging from 150 to 300 yuan depending on gender; Hulusi instruments used for the program must be purchased from Li Xinyu's company at 680 yuan each; each actor can bring one family member to Haixinsha for free, while additional tickets cost 180 yuan each, with a buy-one-get-one-free offer.
New Year's Eve turned joyful into despair, and students cried.
Watching the CCTV Spring Festival Gala on New Year's Eve is a long-standing tradition in Xiaoming's family. This year, due to Xiaoming's performance, the whole family adjusted the TV early and notified all relatives, colleagues, classmates, and friends to watch.
"This gala was organized by the TV station and its partner," said Guan Zhuoxing, who claimed to be a member of the Spring Festival Gala director team. Both parties signed a letter of authorization, where the TV station entrusted a certain cultural communication company to organize the event. "Due to weather reasons, the Haixinsha sub-venue was canceled, and large-scale group programs couldn't enter the broadcasting hall. It wasn't live but recorded, and these matters were clearly explained to the parents." Guan Zhuoxing indicated that as for those who still thought they could see the program on New Year's Eve, "that was a misunderstanding on their part."
Worried about potential chaos, the organizers did not notify everyone.